


Iceberg Anatomy

by Simarillion



Series: Glaciology! Verse [2]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-03
Updated: 2010-04-03
Packaged: 2017-10-08 16:10:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/77434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Simarillion/pseuds/Simarillion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Movie meets reality. At the end of the world a fateful meeting takes place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: None of the herein presented happenings and events are true. Everything is 100% fiction and that includes the sexuality of the characters. I don't claim to be in the know about their relations and private affairs, and I don't make any money with the creation of this story.
> 
> A/N: I changed the age of Jensen and Jared, they are the same age now. The plot wouldn't really work otherwise.

It is a balmy 32 degrees Fahrenheit outside. After the heavy winter, the rise in temperature comes as a welcome change - and it comes not a second too soon. Today, a group of strangers will join the base. There had been lots of rumours and speculations since no one told them what kind of people would be sent their way. The stories had been increasing in hilarity as the arrival date closed in, include theories about secret government agents, aliens from area 51, the cast of a reality show (something about Paris Hilton had been whispered), and movie stars.

Jensen has spent the last three days outside. He and three others have been travelling to the gauging stations further out. The snow is heaped high like mountain ranges at some places, and the frozen masses glitter coldly in the sunlight. There's nothing more beautiful than this.

Dean barks happily as they near home. Jensen knows that the only reason why the husky is so excited is because Danneel spoils him rotten with treats and scratches behind the ears. Dean is spineless like that. For a beef jerky, he would turn his back on Jensen any day.

There is a commotion at the base when they stop in front of it. Jeff is showing a group of people around, newcomers wrapped in arctic gear; bright red, blue, yellow and orange shapes in all this white and grey. The group follows him around like a pack of obedient puppies.

Once Jensen has settled the dogs down, Danneel comes up to him. She's grinning like a loon, and her cheeks are blushing. It could be the cold, but he's sure that she's excited about something. Dean sees her and starts whining. Without a look back at Jensen the husky dashes for his enabler. His rewards are eager scratches and a strip of dried meat.

"One day he'll be too fat to pull the sled, and I know exactly who'll be to blame for that." There's amusement in his voice as he hugs his friend.

"Psh, Dean is a lean mean sled pulling machine." She crouches down and rubs the dog's sides. "Aren't you? Yes, we both know that your daddy is just being jealous because I like you better."

Dean rubs and twists himself around her and slobbers onto her clothes and her face.

"So, the mystery visitors arrived?" He checks a last time that the dogs are securely tied to the chain. Every one of the huskies is curled up and resting.

"Yeah, just now. And you'll never guess who it is they brought out here." Now that Dean has settled down somewhat, she gets up and wipes her face. "It's Jared Padalecki. They're doing some movie about a polar expedition, and that's why he's doing some boot camp kind of thing here with us."

Jensen feels himself tense at the name. He hadn't heard a word about the Hollywood star since the reunion two years ago, though it's not like there are any movie theatres out here, and he never followed the trends and happenings of the movie stars anyway. It annoys him that the mere mentioning of the other's name has him all nervous and jittery.

"Huh." There's nothing else he knows to say here.

"They're going to stay for four weeks, and they're supposed to join treks, help with the scientific team, and get an in-depth course about surviving in snow and ice. Jeff said that he'd send them to you about survival training and the dogs." Danneel follows him up to the main building while she goes on and on about who is going to do what with the movie stars.

Inside the compound the excitement is almost tangible. Everyone is talking about their guests. Apparently everyone but Jensen is up-to-date about the latest gossip from tingle town. They pass by Alona and Brock who argue about the relationship statues of one Jared Padalecki. The only things Jensen hears in passing are the words 'Sandy' and 'break-up'.

The only sane people thought the base seem to be Sam and Jim. Samantha is busy kicking someone's ass, while Jim just stands by and grins amused. It looks like the general excitement about their guests has spilled into the quality of the work that ought to be done. If there's one thing that makes Sam angry, it's shoddy work.

Jensen heads for his small office/closet, Dean trailing after him. Danneel abandoned them when she overheard Alona and Brock's conversation, and without her feeding him, the husky seems to remember that he's actually Jensen's dog. Inside the tiny room, Dean curls up under the desk, and leaves his owner to whatever work he's supposed to do.

At first he starts with the entering of the collected data. Some of the samples will need further testing, but the preliminary findings are ready to be filed. He spends almost two hours on this particular job, making sure to check everything, referencing and cross-referencing everything, and then forwarding the requested data to Paula at the Scott Polar Institute and Professor Kripke at UA.

He's almost finished with the task, when there's a knock at his door, which is wide open to keep Jensen from getting claustrophobic.

"Hi, Jensen! D'you have a minute for us?" Jeff is leaning against the door frame. Behind him he can make out other people, and the giant figure of Jared Padalecki.

"Sure." He doesn't get up to greet the newcomers; there isn't enough room for that in his office, nor in the hallway.

Jeff makes more room to allow the strangers to get a good look at his colleague and his work place. There's some shuffling and faces peer inside. "Okay, I already introduced you to most of the people you'll be working with. Jensen here will be the one to show you the ropes where survival in the Polar region is concerned. He'll give you a crash course on Polar Medicine, teach you how to work with the dogs, and how to ski and hike around here. He's actually our most experienced explorer, and can tell you exactly what it's like to cross the South Pole."

The looks this earns him vary from curious, to bored. Especially one guy, a blonde dude who looks like he just rolled out of bed – tousled hair and all – seems to not care at all about what's going on around him.

"Cool." The comment takes Jensen by surprise. "Hi, I'm Jared."

Before he can reply, or even find his cool, Dean wedges himself out from under the desk and jumps the new stranger, knocking him to the floor. The husky shamelessly climbs over the tall guy and goes on whining and licking him happily.

"Dean!" Jensen is mortified. Leave it to his dog to completely embarrass him.

"Hey, it's no problem." Jared has only eyes for his new canine friend, who seems to have decided that the strange human is his one true love. Dean is practically sitting in the man's lap as he gets his sides rubbed and his ears scratched. "You are a real beauty."

There's a snort from the blonde douche bag, and Jensen decides to ignore it. He enjoys watching the display right in front of him. Never before has he been able to see Jared Padalecki this close. In High School he'd had to watch from the bleachers, but now, here, he isn't even two feet away from him.

"Alright, I'll show you to your quarters, and you can unpack your stuff." Jeff gets the group moving again, and after a last pat on the head and a smile at Jensen, Jared follows them. They leave a speechless Jensen behind, who stares at the now empty doorway.

It takes several minutes of processing before he's come to terms with what happened and then he finishes his work. Once the last figures are entered into the databank, and everything's been saved and catalogued, he heads for the lab to help with the samples.

Sam is already working on it, and Jensen sidles up next to her. "You need help?"

"Yeah, prepare the next two samples." She never turns to him, just keeps her eyes trained on her work. "Where did you get these?"

"Just a mile out of station 16. The ice has been melting a lot more out there. The samples are from layers that have been covered for decades, if not a century." He starts with the preparations and makes sure he's careful not to ruin anything by contaminating them.

"Explains the results I got. The ice melts even faster than we feared." And that's that.

They work side by side in silence and are able to check half of the samples he brought in today. When Dean gets restless, Jensen packs his stuff away and leaves Sam to finish for the day as well. Eagerly, the husky makes for the outside. Just as he has his jacket zipped his up, he can hear someone calling out his name.

"Jensen?"

He turns around and finds Jared heading for them. He's wearing his full polar gear and he's smiling happily at him.

"D'you mind my coming with you? You're going to the dogs, right?" All excited and eager, he looks like a puppy himself. Like Dean when he gets to go outside.

"Sure." He holds the door open and waits for Dean and Jared to precede him outside. Though the temperature has dropped somewhat he thinks that the other is wearing far too heavy clothes – but then again, Jensen is used to this climate. It's likely that to someone usually living somewhere much warmer feels the cold differently than he does.

The dogs don't even raise their heads when they come closer. Jared wants to reach out and pet them but Jensen stops him before anything can happen. "Don't touch them before I've introduced you. Most of them are tame enough, but some wouldn't hesitate to bite you if they don't know you."

Introductions are made and Jensen lets Jared feed the dogs some treats. Now he can pet them as much as he wants to. While the other is busy playing and clowning around with the dogs, Jensen prepares their food. The dogs are still somewhat tired from the long journey; normally they would loudly demand that their human hurry up and prepare their dinner faster.

He carries their bowls over and makes to put away the ingredients of the food.

"Can I help you with something?" Jensen turns his head towards Jared and shakes it.

"Nope." With that he washes off the fork and the spoon and puts them away. "Everything's taken care of."

"They are awesome dogs." Jared smiles kindly at the pack. "I have two dogs at home as well, but they're no sled dogs. I think they would love the pack though."

Jensen doubts that Jared's dogs would enjoy the pack. "They seem even-tempered, but believe me, when a new dog joins and they don't get along it can get nasty. The first two months there were lots if fights, two dogs got killed. They killed them during the night."

There is disbelieve and something like uncertainty in the other's eyes as he looks from the dogs to Jensen and back.

"The dogs killed each other?"

"Yeah, tore their throats out." He leaves it at that. It's better that Jared knows that these are not spoiled pets.

They stay to watch the dogs finish eating and then they collect the bowls, and Jensen washes them out. Dean is curled up against Sammy. The two dogs have their snouts tucked against each other's fur and are dozing contently.

"You want me to show you the sled and their gear?" Now that the huskies are full and tired, there's nothing much they can do with them.

"Sure." The eagerness and excitement is back. He shows Jared around, explains the gear and the sled, answers questions, and they walk around the compound as Jensen points out different things and places of importance.

When they return to the entrance, Dean shows up and looks at them as if he were asking what took them so long. "Dude, you have no reason to look at me like that."

Jared laughs, amused at the interaction between dog and human, and reaches down to scratch the husky behind the ears. This earns him a happy yip and doggy kisses.

"You are so easy." Jensen rolls his eyes at Dean's antics and opens the door for all of them. There's a short scuffle about who'll enter first and then they're back inside. The air is much warmer than outside.

"Thanks, man that was real fun."

"Anytime." And Jensen is surprised that he means it. He enjoyed taking care of the dogs together with Jared. The other was eager to learn and he really adored the dogs, all things that rank very highly with Jensen.

"Jared, dude." They are joined by the blonde guy that seems to be constantly annoyed with being here. "Where were you?"

"Helping Jensen with the dogs." He smiles satisfied at the other. "Uh, I don't think you were really introduced to each other. Jensen, meet Chad, my best friend and the biggest douche bag I know as well."

"Shut up, freak!" But to Jensen's surprise there's no heat of malice in either Jared's or Chad's voice. Apparently they really were that good of friends that they were allowed to make fun of each other.

"Hi!" He's not sure if he should shake Chad's hand or if a greeting is enough, but he's saved by Chad, who nods at him.

"Nice."

Then he turns back to his friend. "Dude, dinner is served, and I know you, if you don't get any food any time soon you'll annoy me like there's no tomorrow."

News about food is, apparently, even greater than dogs, and with a happy grin shot towards Jensen, Jared leads the way towards the cantina. Jensen leaves the actors to their eating and grabs an apple before he heads for his own quarters. He needs a shower. Three days on the trek is too much time without the chance to properly clean oneself.

Dean jumps onto Jensen's bed and curls up. Through slit eyes he watches his human undress and get into the bathroom. The lukewarm water feels like heaven on his skin. There are strict rules on the timing of showers; no longer than five minutes, and he treasures each of them. Finally, he turns the shower off and climbs out of the cubicle.

Jensen is one of the few who actually have their own shower. There had been talk about him having to give up his room during the presence of their guests, but in the end Jeff has decided that no one would be temporarily relocated. His exact words had been '_if they want to experience what life is like out here, they can do it the real way_'.

Drying off and slipping into sweats, a t-shirt, and a fleece sweater, he walks back into his bedroom. Dean is deep asleep and has uncurled. The husky is spread across the whole bed.

He grabs the apple he picked up at the cantina and slips into thick woollen socks. With David's book about climate change and its impact on the Polar Regions in hand, he does his best to fit onto the bed somewhere next to, or under, the dog, and settles down.

There's a soft knock on his door.

"Yeah?" He doesn't even try to untangle himself again from the pretzel that is him and Dean.

The door opens and Jared peeks in. "Um, Jeff told us that if we want to take a shower we're supposed to ask. My room is across the corridor, so, is it alright if I use your shower?"

There are public showers as well, Jensen knows that, but the thought of Jared Padalecki taking a shower just a few feet away makes this one of the easiest decisions he's ever made. "Sure, feel free to use the shower."

"Awesome. I'll just get my things."

The head disappears and a couple of minutes later the door to his room opens again to let Jared in. Jensen looks up but returns to reading his book after the other closes the bathroom door behind himself.

"Five minutes only!" He shouts the instructions at the wall that separates them. He receives no reply though. If Jeff gave them the whole shebang, he surely informed them on showering policies as well.

At first he can hear nothing, but then the shower turns on. The rushing of water fades into the background as he forces himself to focus on the text he's reading. He'll be able to fantasize about a naked Jared Padalecki in his quarters later, after the object of his interest is back in his own room, and Dean is no longer resting his head on Jensen's crotch.

It's impossible to be contrite with temptation so near. His eyes scan over letters, words and paragraphs, but it's like his eyes and his brain don't share a connection. He can see but he can't read. Fortunately it only takes a little bit longer than five minutes, and then there is silence once more in the adjoining room.

Five more minutes and the door opens, revealing a flushed Jared. His hair is tousled and still wet. Bunching his worn clothes and his other stuff in his arms, he smiles at Jensen. "Thanks, I really needed that after the long day I had."

Jensen nods and closes the book in his hands. "Feels nice, huh?"

"Sure does." If he feels uncomfortable standing in another person's private space, he doesn't show it. He grins at Dean and looks up at Jensen, laughing softly. "He likes the bed."

"Yeah. If he could, he would throw me out of my own room. Thinks it's all his." Absentmindedly he scratches the dog behind the ears. "So, what are the plans for your group tomorrow?"

"Well, we're going to have a couple of lectures on the Polar flora with Dr. Tal in the morning. In the afternoon, there's gonna be a crash course in Polar fauna with Dr. Beaver and Capt. Morgan." It's strange to hear his friends and colleagues being referred to by their title and their family name. "I was wondering, what time do you guys usually get up at?"

"Depends on what shift you are working, but most of the people are up and at breakfast around six, six thirty the latest." He smirks at the dismayed look on Jared's face.

"Man, I thought that for once I would be able to sleep longer than till five o'clock." The statement is accompanied by a put-upon sigh. "What time do you get up?

"My days start around four-thirty. Got to feed the dogs and take Dean for a short walk. Sometimes I help with preparing breakfast."

This time Jared can't hide his dislike.

"What?"

"I really wanted to help you with the dogs in the morning as well. But, four-thirty?" A groan follows and a grimace that shows exactly what he thinks about the idea of getting up that early.

"Hey, no problem. You can help in the evening." He doesn't even get to say anymore before he's interrupted.

"No way, I want to help! I'll be up bright and early, four-thirty tomorrow morning." Jensen is sure he can hear a murmured, "more like night," added at the end.

"Okay."

"Great. I'll leave you to your reading again." Jared turns to the door and steps out. In the doorway he looks back and smiles gratefully. "Thanks for the shower."

"No problem. You can take one anytime."

Another nod and then the door is closed, leaving Jensen back in the room, alone with Dean. The husky huffs heavily and buries his face deeper into his crotch. One hand rubbing the dog's neck and another holding the book open, he can finally concentrate again on the text, and he continues reading till about an hour later.

He pushes Dean off the bed and pulls off the fleece sweat shirt. Curled up in his blankets he's too tired to even to think about Jared Padalecki taking a shower, and quickly falls asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Jensen is in the bathroom brushing his teeth when a knock has Dean scrambling to the door, yipping excitedly. It's no mystery who's showing up at this time of the morning. For the last week, Jared had kept his promise and arrived every day at four-thirty. True, he wasn't very coherent or helpful, but the effort was worth more than the results.

He spits out the foam and fights his way past the dog to let Jared in. Once again he comes to meet tousled hair and eyes puffy with sleep.

"Morn'n'." He's sure if he didn't step to the side, Jared would just run over him on his way to Jensen's bed.

There's an 'uff' and then the other is spread facedown across the unmade bed. Dean has no reservations about climbing in with his human friend. The two of them don't move a single muscle as Jensen returns to the bathroom and finishes getting ready for the day.

Yesterday, they had been snow shoeing for hours, exploring the surrounding area of the compound. For Jared and the other 'recruits,' as they have been calling the Hollywood guests, the experience had been draining. Usually, there would be excited talk about new things learned or discoveries made, but that evening, there had been silence during dinner. And the moment they had finished, the additional research team members had disappeared in their rooms.

Teeth brushed, face washed and hair almost tamed, he finishes getting dressed. Upon seeing the two bums sleeping on his bed, he thinks about letting them get off easy, but then he can't help himself. Dean cracks his eyes open when Jensen sneaks out of the room, but he's far too lazy to get up. Quickly, he gets a handful of snow from outside, and then he quietly comes back. He finds them just the way he left them.

The dog watches his approach and makes to get up. Most likely, he thinks that Jensen's brought something for him. A determined shake of his head has Dean stopping his attempt at untangling himself from Jared.

The reaction he gets from shoving cold snow down Jared's shirt is instantaneous. The other squeaks – in a very manly way, of course – and jumps up. Dean and the tangled sheets and blankets prove to be too much of an obstacle, and he almost falls face first from the bed.

Jensen can't help it. He bursts out into laughter. True, it was a childish prank, but Jared's sloth impersonation had been just too tempting to resist.

"Dude, so not cool." Jared's frantic tugging and pulling at his clothes makes things only worse. For one, the snow is slipping even deeper into his clothes, and he also looks like huge a dork doing it. "Dude!"

He leans against the wall and watches the spectacle before him. Just as Jared is starting to strip himself of his wet clothes, the door opens and Alona looks in. "Everything alright? I thought I heard someone screaming."

"We're fine."

"No, we're not." Jared is now only wearing his pants; parka, sweater, shirt and undershirt lying crumpled on the floor. He's wiping his chest down with one of Jensen's dirty t-shirts.

"Hey, that's my shirt!" Jensen makes a grab for his piece of clothing, but Jared's freakishly long arms keep him at a distance.

"That's what you get for pulling a stunt like this, bitch." The grumbling is slowly turning into the other's usual teasing banter, and now that the snow and the water are dried off, he's more cheerful than he had been when he arrived this morning.

When he turns to complain to Alona about the t-shirt abuse, he finds her staring at Jared, eyes wide open, biting her lips. It is precisely at this moment that Jensen realises that he has a half-naked Jared Padalecki in his room, right in front of him.

The funny thing is that he didn't even think about it, or react to it. Nothing has changed about Jensen's attraction to Jared, but ever since the actor walked up to him on the first day and asked to be allowed to help with the dogs, he had gotten to know the other. Jared is a good and friendly person, and he's slowly but surely becoming Jensen's friend. Not his best friend, but a friend never the less.

While Jensen was busy with his introspection, and Alona continued to stare at the suddenly exposed chest, Jared had started digging through Jensen's clothes and pulled on an undershirt and a t-shirt.

"Well, at least the sweater and the jacket are dry."

The words make him focus on the here and now again. Jared is fully clothed again. He tosses his wet clothes into Jensen's hamper and turns to look at him expectantly.

"Dude, I'm not doing your laundry." But his words are more amused than confrontational.

"I'll do the shirts I just borrowed. The least you can do is take care of the stuff you got all wet in the first place." Dean is back at Jared's side and whines pitifully. His doggy eyes do their best to convey the pain he feels for having to live with Jensen. "Dean, it's you and me, pal. Together, we'll stand a chance against him."

Jensen laughs in amusement. In the last couple of days, the two of them have been found plotting against him more than once. It's almost as if they found their long lost twin in each other.

"Uh, I'll just…okay." The stammered words are Alona's goodbye. They can hear her calling down the corridor, "Sam, the best morning ever!"

"I'll never live that down, will I?" There is a hint of anxiousness in Jared's voice.

"Nope." He pulls on is parka and zips it closed. Behind him are the sounds of toenails clicking and boots shuffling. Together they head out, and make for the first stop of their morning routine – the dogs.

Cas and Sammy are up and yipping at them as they make their across the newly fallen snow. During the night, a blizzard had covered everything under a thick white blanket, brighter and colder than the one before. The huskies dig themselves out and stand at attention as Jensen and Jared prepare their food.

While the humans are busy filling bowls with dog chow, Dean greets his two best friends and plays around with them. There are disgruntled yowls and a short growl at their antics from some of the other dogs, but mostly they are watching the progress of their breakfast.

Jared hands out his bowls with a pat here and a scratch there. He seems to enjoy the time he can spend with the huskies. From the first course the actors had with Jensen, they have been asking about going out with the sled, but Jensen refuses to go anywhere until they are able to walk and move around in the snow. In the case that something happens, they have to be in the position to continue on without the help of the dogs.

The snow shoeing class yesterday was a perfect lesson to show the amount of energy needed to keep moving in the deep snow. In the beginning, everyone had been joking around, but after the first hour of trekking through snow and ice, everyone had been much more subdued.

In the end even Jared's seemingly boundless reservoirs of energy had emptied, and the only talking had been done by Jensen.

Jensen takes a short inventory of their supplies of dog food, and then he joins Jared in watching the huskies devour their breakfast. It is actually a quick affair and soon the bowls are washed and stowed away. When Jensen tries to get Jared and Dean to come with him for a walk, he's met with much resistance, in the form of grumbling and pitiful looks.

It takes a lot of name calling and tugging to get them 'on the road,' and Dean constantly stops to look back at the dogs he's leaving behind.

"See, even Dean thinks that we shouldn't walk today." Jared sounds whiny. He trudges slowly and dispassionately down the path Jensen's making in front of him. "My legs are still tired from yesterday."

"Well then, it's perfect training for you." He knows that for a person not used to the environment and the weather conditions here, the trek on snow shoe had been very demanding, but he had been told to make no exemptions for any of the _recruits_. Even Chad had made it till the end. Granted, that was with a lot of complaining and douchiness, but he made the whole trek.

Their walk takes only forty-five minutes, but during this time, Jared complains so much that they're only able to cover half the distance they usually do. Dean doesn't complain about that though. He's more interested in returning to the other dogs.

When they arrive back at their starting point, the dog dashes to the other huskies without so much of a glance back. His return is greeted with yips and a lot of licking from Sammy and Cas, the three of them twisting around each other with excitement and happiness.

Jared doesn't even comment on the display of affection, he just moans about his feet, mutters something about torture, and makes for the entrance. Jensen can't help but smile at the protesting. The big-ass movie star sounds more like a whiny brat than a famous actor.

"Come on, let's go for breakfast." He follows him into the compound. The grumbling and whining has stopped now that there's the prospect of food. The faces they find in the cantina range from amused (scientists and staff) to dead-on-their feet (Hollywood).

"Dude." The words are meant to sound accusatory and confrontational, but Chad barely manages to lift his head from the table in front of him. The other actors aren't doing any better. "You're in league with my ex-wives, I just know it."

Jensen ignores the remark and makes for his oatmeal, tea and bagels. While he's filling up his mug and grabbing a bagel from the bread basket, Jared's piling food left and right on three separate plates. He doesn't even check to see what it is he's taking.

"How are you going to get all of this to the table?" His only answer is a growl that sounds eerily like a pissed off grizzly before the gathering of food continues.

When he has finished getting his own breakfast stuff, he stays and watches Jared as he attempts to break the world record in breakfast piling. One of the eggs is precariously close to the edge of the plate, and he reaches out to keep it from dropping off. Wrong move, if ever there was one. Jared almost spears his hand with a fork he produced out of thin air, and grabs his three towering plates. Surprisingly, nothing falls or drips on his way to the table.

With the actors in such a foul mood, Jensen decides to let them eat alone. He joins Sam, Jim, and Jeff at their table, and eats his own food. His occasional glance at the Hollywood table is noticed by his friends.

"You know, I think you broke them," Sam winks at him, amused. In the last week, she's been tearing at her hair, complaining about incompetent morons who get in her way and wreck her lab. It's understandable that she takes some sadistic pleasure in the subdued (more like worn out) state the actors are in.

Jeff just chuckles and continues sipping his black coffee. Ever since their guests arrived, he's been laughing and cackling gleefully at the interactions between nerd herd and Barbies, as he likes to refer to the actors and their instructors.

"Laugh it up, Jeff, but I seem to recall that they're scheduled for Polar history with you in about an hour." The comment has the intended effect, and the laughing stops. Jeff eyes the table across the room warily.

Jim just ignores everyone and continues reading the reports he brought with him to breakfast.

"Well, Cap, I'm sure you'll enjoy beating some knowledge into their pretty heads." Sam grins evilly at Jeff, who speedily drains his cup and makes a mad dash for the exit. "I wouldn't be too surprised if he suddenly has to take care of things, somewhere far away from here."

"I wish I could say that was beneath him, but unfortunately I know that it's not. Why is he so scared of them? I thought that he got along with the group great when they arrived?" He eats the last of his oatmeal, and pours himself a glass of OJ.

"That was before the underaged thing propositioned him." Jim doesn't look up from the papers, but he's grinning with amusement. "The girl locked herself into the supply closet with him and tried to do unspeakable things with him. She claimed that Jeff's voice is making her do it."

Sam and Jensen laugh out loud. If there is one thing that Captain Morgan can't deal with, it's overtly flirting. Being used to geeky scientists and long stretches of solitude somewhere at the end of the world, their fearsome boss (for everyone agrees that Jeff is the one in charge around here) is more than a little awkward where interpersonal relationships (of the non work or friendship kind) are concerned.

Their amusement is noticed by the table at the other end of the cantina, and there are some disgruntled looks thrown in their direction. The three of them decide that a tactical retreat is the best procedure right now, and so they slunk out of the room.

Jensen promises Sam to help her in the lab until he gets the new data from the Russian research station in Siberia. He has to check on Dean first though, and when he opens the entrance to head out, he's almost bowled over by an eager dog, who doesn't mind letting him know that he wanted to come inside a long time ago.

A few rubs and scratches and the husky is reasonably calmed down, once more convinced that his human is his willing and obedient slave.

The two of them head for the lab, where Dean curls up in his basket and Jensen starts on the samples and readings Sam has set aside for him. They work alongside each other peacefully, ignoring other people coming and going, continuing with their own tests. Around lunchtime he takes Dean for a short walk around to compound, and then he returns to the lab to finish the last batch.

The results having been recorded and filed, and samples either locked up again or disposed of, he makes for his office. During his walk at lunch time, the data he'd been waiting for had arrived. The labelling of the tables is in Russian, but they are structured the same way their own are, and he knows which numbers are equivalent to what.

Dean leaves him on the way to the office – just around the corner of the cantina he spied Jared, and the dog decided there and then, that Jared is more fun than Jensen. It's more likely that the actor will pet Dean, since Jensen's too busy with work.

It takes him the whole afternoon to go through half of the data he received, and he hadn't even started to compare them with the data he collected himself. His computer decided, upon opening the files, that it would completely screw up the formatting, and so he spent most of the time trying to reformat the whole thing.

His eyes are tearing up and his head is constantly aching when he saves the Excel book and shuts down his computer. In the afternoon there had been occasional shouts and laughter, but now everything's quiet. He rubs over his eyes and stretches. The movement makes his spine pop, and he releases a contented sigh.

"Tired?" The question takes him by surprise, and he swivels his chair around. Jared is leaning on the doorway, looking much more upbeat and coherent than he had this morning.

"You could say that." He gets up and puts away the print outs and folders that are covering the desk. "You have a nice day?"

"Yeah, Jeff was great fun. At first he seemed to be a bit nervous; he kept glancing at Hayden as if she was going to attack him, but he calmed down later on." Jared's words have him crack up laughing. "What's so funny?"

"Your cheerleader tried to molest him couple of days ago." He laughs even harder now. "I was told that it's the voice."

Jared laughs with him. "That would explain why he refused to give her the private tutoring she asked for."

They smile at each other, amused by Jeff's predicament. Now that everything's where it's supposed to be, Jensen pushes Jared away from his doorway and in the direction of the cantina.

"And, are you recovered from the excursion of hell yesterday?" They push through the door and into the crowded room. The tables are crammed full with people and plates. Unlike breakfast, where no one eats at a set time, dinner is an affair where everyone comes together.

"Mostly. My legs and arms still feel weak and heavy, but I can actually walk and talk again, and string words into sentences."

"An amazing feat, all by itself," he quips. He grabs a tray and gets soup, salad and a slice of pie. Today was Alona's and Brock's day to cook. He's learned the hard way to be very careful what to eat when those two are on kitchen duty.

"Fuck you." Jared is busy loading his tray up with more food than should be physically possible. "I'll have you know that my verbal skills are so awesome, I even got an Academy Award Nomination for them."

"Didn't win it though. Maybe you should train some more." Jensen likes teasing Jared. The other gives as good as he gets, and it feels like they've known each other for years, been friends for a long time.

"I hate you." The words are accompanied by a pout, but it is soon replaced by one of Jared's trademark smiles. Bright and sunny.

"Sure you do." Their bantering confused people in the beginning, especially Chad. They couldn't understand how two strangers could get along that easily. Jensen just shrugged the questions off, and told them that '_since they attended the same school_' they were practically brothers.

Danneel had made fun of him for that comment, saying that everyone in Texas is related to each other, but it had stopped the looks and the comments. Once Jared knew that they attended school together, he had made it his personal task to find out if he remembered Jensen from CW High. So far he had never been right, and Jensen knows that he never will be. But that doesn't matter. They are talking now, and that's all that counts.

They part ways, each one joining their own table. It reminds him strangely of High School, and he has to smile. But at High School, the most popular guy would never have talked with one of the science geeks.

Danneel makes space for him, and Jensen squishes himself between her and Jim. Their table isn't even nearly as loud as the Hollywood table, but there are conversations, shared jokes and stories as well.

"Were able to finish the data you got?" Sam sits down opposite him.

"Nope, the stupid computer fucked up the formatting of the file. I spent almost the whole afternoon trying to reformat it. Otherwise, I can't make heads or tails of the figures." He reaches under the table and scratches Dean's ear, who has returned from Jared, and is now wrapped around Jensen's feet.

"Sorry."

"No problem. I sorted it out and have started going through the tables. It will take me all of tomorrow before I can tell you the results of the comparison though." The dog's cold nose pushes at his hand, demanding food.

"Did the dogs behave?" His question is directed at Danneel next to him.

"Yeah, Jared helped, and they were on their best behaviour with him."

"They love him." He smiles and continues eating his soup.

"They're just trying to suck up to him, so they can go to Hollywood, become movie stars, and leave here." She grins at him and winks at Sam.

"Treacherous bastards." A whine from under the table has him laugh. "Not you, Dean, I know that you'd never betray me."

Danneel snorts. "Yeah, dream on. Your dog would sell his own grandmother for a good belly rub."

"I don't believe a word you're saying." His fake naïve voice and shocked expression has Sam and Danneel laughing, him joining in soon after. He likes the people here. Everyone is nice, and it feels almost like a family.

With another pat on Dean's head he pulls his hand back from under the table and continues eating dinner. Jim is teasing Jeff about his reaction to the flirty actress, and soon the whole table is involved in a heated discussion about Jeff's dating skills.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning after the dogs are fed, and they are back from taking Dean for a walk, Jensen has Jared help him with setting up the sled. He wants to show them today the basics in dog sledding. After the exhausting snow shoe excursion, they'll get to ride on a dog sled.

Dean is excited about the prospect of running with the other dogs, and his constant darting between Jensen, Jared, and the sled makes the preparations rather difficult. Finally they have everything prepared, and go to get some breakfast.

The news about today's lesson plan travels fast, and throughout the morning, Jensen gets held up by excited people who can't seem to stop talking about dogs and sleds.

"So, are we going to take them out as well?" Ever since Jensen asked him to help with getting the gear and sled out of the shed, Jared hasn't left his side. If he could, the tall guy would bounce off the walls. The image reminds Jensen of Dean when he's returning to all the snow and ice after a trip down to Texas.

"We'll see. First we're going to cover dog handling, and feeding, and taking care of the gear, and a lot of other stuff." Seeing the crestfallen look on Jared's face he quickly adds, "But, if you want, we can take a short ride after class."

"Great!" With this everything's alright again.

For the first time since the Polar Boot Camp started, the recruits are right on time, properly prepared, and eager to go. Jensen is actually the last to show up. Even Chad seems to be interested in what they will learn today.

"Okay, since everyone's here, let's head out." The group trails after him. Dean runs ahead, greeting his friends, and then bounds back to weave through the humans. He can feel the excitement. In his canine brain he most likely thinks that all of them came outside to play with him.

The dogs sit up as Jensen and the others approach. They watched him get the sled out, and preparing the gear. Usually that means that they are going for a ride, and it has been some time since Jensen took them out.

Sammy and Cas yip happily at Jared who crouches down next to them, scratching behind their ears. Ash and Ada are joining their friends and cover Jared's face with doggy kisses.

"They are so cute." Hayden's delighted comment has Jensen fight hard not to roll his eyes. Leave it to the blonde cheerleader to fawn over Jared and the dogs like a teenage girl.

"Alright. Before we can actually go for a ride on the sled, there's a lot of things that you have to learn." This earns him groans and moans, but he ignores the looks he gets and shepherds the actors over to the sled and the gear.

"First of all, you need to know how to take care of the gear, know where to find what." And with that the lesson starts. He explains everything to them, demonstrates how to prepare the sled for the dogs, shows them what to do when something breaks, tears or is jammed, and has them repeat everything he does.

After three and a half hours the basics are covered, and once he's sure they retained at least a part of what he taught them, Jensen unties the dogs and introduces humans and huskies to each other. He knows this means t he won't be able to continue the lesson until everything's calmed down, but after the looks he had been getting (more than one of them murderous) for going over all the theory and maintaining, he prefers the chaos to any attempts on his life.

He watches the interaction between the huskies and the actors. At first there are tentative sniffs and careful pats. Once both sides are convinced that everything is fine, the crowd gets more lively. Ash bowls over Chad who squeaks at the impact, but then the dog is busy nosing the human's crotch.

"Dude!" Jensen can't help but laugh at the picture in front of him. The blonde actor looks like a blushing virgin, trying to defend her chastity, and the dog just does what every dog does, he sniffs. "The dog's trying to molest me!"

It's Jared who comes to his friend's rescue, and after directing the dog to another human, he helps Chad up. "Seems like not only the women have the hots for you, Chad-man."

"Shut up, asshole." The retort is without heat though.

Jared just drags his friend over to the group of dogs and humans and makes the blonde rub Cas' belly. Chad is reluctant at first, but when this husky does not go for his crotch, he relaxes, and finally gets into the spirit of playing with the sled dogs.

While everyone is enjoying themselves, Jensen gets the harnesses for the dogs. He checks them over, not because they're not well maintained, but out of habit. There's the sound of laughter and he looks up from his task, seeing Hayden running after Ada. The husky chases off, the girl running right behind her, cheerful and relaxed.

"Jensen!" Jared calls out for him, and waves him over.

It's strange how things changed during the last week. Jensen still catches himself sometimes, just staring ahead and wondering how it happened that he got to be friends with Jared Padalecki. Back, during high school, when he spent his days watching from afar, longing for and at the same time fearing the attention of the star quarter back, he'd never imagined that he would ever be in the position he's now.

The mostly easy-going nature of Jared makes it impossible not to be friends with him. Even though Jensen is still attracted to the other man, their relaxed interaction, and Jared's infatuation with the dogs, makes it easy to forget about it, and to focus on the friendship that has been steadily developing.

Times like this, when Jared is standing in the midst of all that snow, his face flushed with the cold, the exercise, and the excitement, it hits Jensen. It is an ache that has him wanting what he can't have.

He walks over, avoiding to be run over by Hayden and Ada. He doesn't care for the blonde overly much, but the way she clowns around with the dog, makes him thaw to her. She stops her chase right next to him, panting for breath and grinning widely.

"Jensen," her arm wraps around him and she clings to him. Suddenly, he knows exactly how Jeff felt the last couple of days.

"Yeah?" Her grip is not overly tight, but he'd prefer her to take a step back and let go of him.

"Can we go dog sledding?" She bats her eyes at him, and Jensen almost laughs out loud. Here he was anxious that she might try to hit on him, and all she wanted was to take the dogs out for a ride. If he wasn't feeling so relieved, he would actually be insulted.

"First we have to hitch them into their harness, and then we have to go through the most important commands."

"And then we can?" He doesn't even have to respond to that. Hayden hugs him tightly and then chases off to catch Ada.

"So we're going to go dog sledding?" Jared's question surprises him. He can be rather quiet and stealthy if he wants to.

"We'll start at least." He looks around, making sure that none of the dogs ran off and all of the actors are alright. "There are six of you, and seven dogs, I guess one dog per person, and I'll take Dean."

Jensen whistles and suddenly the chaos stops as all of the dogs obediently come to him. The team sits down and looks at him, waiting for what Jensen wants to do.

The humans are not that coordinated and well-behaved. Some of them goof around, while others want to pet the dogs. Jensen wants to whistle again, maybe this time the actors will behave?

But things settle down quickly when Jared takes it upon himself to restore order. "Hey, everyone! Get a move on and shut up. Jensen said we'll go dog sledding… ," at this he's interrupted by excited chatter, "Hey! Quiet!"

Jensen takes over from this point on. "Okay, each of you gets a dog that he or she has to harness. I'll show you how and where the dog is to be positioned."

At this point arguments start up about who gets to choose what dog. This time Jensen does whistle, and surprisingly enough it works. The ruckus quiets down and once more everyone pays attention to what he has to say.

"I'll tell you which dog you get to take care of." And, with that, he pairs up humans and dogs. Once everyone has their assigned canine partner, he has them follow the dogs to the sled. The huskies assume their position without any prompting from anyone.

"Why isn't Ada running with Ruby?" Hayden is petting her new friend.

"Because Ada's a swing dog, and Ruby is a team dog. Can't pair those two together." He waits until all the actors are next to their dogs.

"What's a swing dog, and what's a team dog?"

He takes a deep breath. "The team is made up of pairs. You can see here that there are six dogs, three pairs, with a single dog at the lead." Jensen scratches Dean behind the ears to show him that even though he's talking to his fellow humans, he's not forgetting the husky. "I told you before that the human at the back is called the musher. As the musher you'll be responsible for giving directions, pacing, and some cases you'll be running behind the sled and push."

There is some muttered comment from Chad, but he can't hear what the other his saying. Whatever it was, it earns him a shove from Jared, and an annoyed look.

"Now the dogs are positioned according to their abilities and strengths. Sammy and Ash, the two at the back, right in front of the sled, are our wheel dogs. They are the strongest dogs of the team. Maybe you've noticed how they are sturdier than the other dogs, that's because they're not huskies. Sammy is an Alaskan Malamute, and Ash is a Greenland Dog. The two of them are the slowest of the dogs, but they are sturdier and stronger than anyone else. They'll also make sure that we'll get to perform tight turns."

Everyone's listening attentively, looking at the dogs he's talking about, and comparing them to the others.

"The next pair, the ones right in front of the wheel dogs, are our team dogs, Cas and Ruby. You could say that they provide the horse power to our sled team. They add more strength. Cas is also no husky, he's a Qimmiq, or Canadian Inuit Dog. All of the other dogs are Siberian Huskies. Chuck and Ada are the swing dogs, the ones making sure that the sled gets manoeuvred around corners and twists. The dog at the top, Dean, is the lead dog, and he's the one responding to your commands. He's responsible for finding the right trail, and he's also the one setting the pace."

Jensen crouches down next to Dean and holds his harness up for everyone to see. "Okay, everyone pick up the harness next to their dog. I'll guide you through hitching the dogs into them."

For all the excited laughing and giggling from Hayden and bitchy grumbling from Chad, they are finished with the task rather quickly. When all the dogs are hitched in, and Jensen has checked everything's alright, they finally get to the commands and the practical part of today's lesson.

They don't go very far but everyone gets to take the dogs out. There is a lot of laughter when Chad can't get the dogs to stop, and it takes Jensen to run after him, calling out 'stop' at the top of his lungs, to end the excursion.

Most of the actors are doing rather good though, and he promises to give them another lesson, some time to practice, in a couple of days. When they are finished with the day, he's surprised by everyone's insistence, that they'll take care of '_their_' dog. The huskies follow them obediently back to the pole, and are petted and fed with treats that mysteriously everyone has on them.

Jared notices his dislike about feeding the dogs. "Don't worry. I told them at breakfast what they can feed the dogs, and what is forbidden."

He nods and forces himself to ignore the candy Hayden is feeding Ada. Next time he'll just give them proper dog treats to hand out.

"Okay, today's class is over. Tomorrow Sam will talk about climate change and its impact on the Polar Regions, and I think that in the afternoon you get to practice some more snow shoeing with Jeff." The last addition earns him moans and cries of distress, but he just smiles at them and herds them back to the compound.

"You're enjoying this too much." Jared's pacing him, without even bothering to check they match. They just do. "I think that all of this _Polar Boot Camp_ is just a smoke screen for something else. Some nefarious plan that we are unaware of."

"Nefarious?"

"I do know words other than 'yes' and 'no'." He's looking at him, all hurt and disbelief. Fake, but almost that real that Jensen's not really sure at the beginning. Once he knows that Jared is joking, he snorts and hurries his pace up.

"Nefarious?" It's not fair that Jared has legs that are two feet all on their own. There's no way Jensen could ever outrun the actor. Maybe if they were both in snow shoes.

The compound feels like a sauna, after spending the whole day outside. He parts with the group, who is interested in resting or taking a shower, and heads for his office. There isn't much time left until dinner, but he wants to work some more with the data he received yesterday.

Dean is conflicted about who to follow when Jared walks into one direction, and Jensen into the other, but then he seems to remember who his real owner is, and he trots after Jensen. Curled up under the desk, the dog sleeps while he compares data, and takes notes about differences and similarities.

It is only the soft knock against his door jamb that raises him from the rows and columns of numbers and figures. Sam and Jim are waiting for him, and he sets the print outs to the side, without even tidying up before he goes for dinner. He'll be back later on anyway.

"How was your day?" Sam sounds sincere, but he can see the amusement in her eyes. Well, he will be the one laughing tomorrow.

"It was great. They liked working with the dogs." Dean trails after them to the cantina. "They're looking forward to tomorrow's class with you."

This earns him a whack against his shoulder, and a glare that would have Hannibal Lecter running for the hills. "Very funny."

"I thought so." He chuckles amused, and Sam can't help from laughing with him. Jim just grins, but otherwise stays quiet.

The cantina is full. It's a lot noisier than usual with the Hollywood table talking loudly about their day with the dogs. They brag about 'their' dog to whoever is willing to listen, and even to some who aren't. Jeff is standing at their table, talking with Jared and ignoring Hayden.

Jensen gets his food and makes for his own table. Everyone is watching the excited group of actors. The scientists are smiling at the antics and the stories that are being told about today's class. Sitting down next to Jim, he pours himself a glass of juice.

"I hear that the class was a success?" Alona grins at him. She keeps on glancing at the noisy table.

"Yeah, they had a lot of fun." Dean wedges through his legs and curls up on his feet. He takes a meatball from his pasta and reaches under the table. The dog carefully snatches the food up and then licks Jensen's finger clean.

Before Alona can ask some more about the dog sledding, Jeff joins them, and sits down opposite Jensen. "That's the first time they are this happy and excited since they arrived."

Jensen nods, "They'll be much calmer tomorrow evening, after you took them to their next snow shoe trek."

"Yeah." Everyone at the table chuckles. They remember the subdued actors of two days ago, who almost fell asleep during dinner. A very different scene than the one today.

Danneel sits down on his other side. She elbows Jensen teasingly. "Next time you're planning something fun, tell me. I want to be included."

"I take it your day wasn't fun then?" He swipes another meat ball from his plate and smuggles it under the table for Dean.

"You would be right about that." She groans and shares a pained look with Alona. "The samples we got at station 5 last week, turns out that they were somehow contaminated. So, the testing we've been doing the last days, and the reports are all useless. We had to trash everything. And, retest all the other samples to make sure that they are alright."

"Man, that sucks." There's nothing worse than to find out that your work has been for nothing. "You want me to take the dogs out tomorrow, and get you a new sample?"

"No, we'll take the results from station seven, it's rather close to five, and we'll get new samples next time." If Jensen is honest, he's relieved that he doesn't have to head out for new samples. He'll need the time tomorrow to work through the Russian data.

"Okay, but if you want me to get some sooner, tell me."

"Sure." They return to their food, finishing dinner quietly. There's enough chatter going on at the other end of the room to entertain all the tables anyway.

Once he's finished, Jensen goes out and rechecks the dogs, and then returns to his office. Dean abandoned him between the two tasks, following Danneel to the lab. Jensen heard her say something about beef jerky, and he knows that the dog will follow her to the end of the world for one of those meat strips.

Exhaustion is creeping up on him as he pours over digits and graphs, but he forces himself to work some more. Even if Danneel said that they don't need him to get new samples tomorrow, he wants to finish his own work earlier, to be able and go out with the dogs once he's finished.

Only when the prints and the data onscreen start to blur in front of his eyes, he decides to call it a night. He saves the changes he made, and sorts the printed sheets. Dean, who returned two hours ago, is snoring under the desk.

Jensen calls out to the dog, and heads for his quarters. His step is heavy, and he physically craves his bed. Taking care of the dogs and the actors all day long and then work until late into the night, he's more tired than he's been in a very long time.


	4. Chapter 4

The actors have been with them for more than two weeks now, with two more to stay. There have been another dog sledding practice and two more snow shoe exercises. After another failed attempt at flirting with Jeff, Hayden has redirected her attention to Adrian, the oldest of the actors.

Since the first dog sledding class, the actors have been showing up every evening, and they have been helping with settling the dogs down for the night. Jared's the only one who helps in the mornings, though. He's become so good with the handling of the sled and the dogs, that Jensen took Jared with him when he went out to get Danneel her samples from gauging station five, which he didn't get to as soon as he intended.

After today's rather calm day, Jensen decides to take Dean for a walk after work. The dogs are all settled, and dinner is over. It's getting dark, but a short walk is still possible. He finds Dean with Jared, the two of them resting on Jared's bed, lazy and almost dozing off.

"Well, look at that." Dean raises his head to look at him balefully, and Jared just cracks his eyes open. "I thought it might be fun to go for a walk."

A groan and Dean's whine is his answer. Where exercise is concerned, the two of them are surprisingly enough always of the same opinion.

"Come on, a short walk. No longer than thirty minutes." There isn't even a reaction to that. Apparently today had been a lot more exhausting to Jared, and Dean was of the opinion that he isn't willing to leave without his human twin.

Jensen grabs the chair at the desk and sits down, facing the human/canine heap on the bed. He stays like that for a couple of minutes, before Jared sits up, partially untangling from Dean. He looks tired. But that's not all there is. It almost seems like the actor is upset about something. "Everything alright, Jared?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He doesn't sound fine though. Apparently he doesn't want to talk about it. At least not with Jensen. Except Chad there's nobody else Jared can talk to though. And Jensen's sure that he's the better option of the two.

"You sure?" When there is no reply he decides to dig a little deeper. "It's just that you don't look like you're fine."

"What are you? Doctor Phil?" It is the first time that Jensen can hear something he doesn't like in Jared's voice. It's a tone that shows his disregard for Jensen.

"Sorry." He doesn't know what to do. Jensen feels uncomfortable sitting here, knowing that Jared is fed up with him. With anybody else he would either not care about it, or care enough to start a fight. Jared is not Chris, or Mike, or his family. Jensen can't know how the other will take to his usual approach a situation like the one right now.

In the end he just gets up from the chair and calls Dean to his side. "I'll take Dean for that walk."

Jared makes like he wants to say something but he doesn't. With a nod at the actor, he heads out.

He has to stop at his room for his jacket, cap, and gloves. Wrapped up tight against the cold, he and Dean leave the compound. The walk helps him to keep from obsessing too much about what happened with Jared.

Jensen knows that the two of them are not close friends, but he can't help but feel like they should be. The way they had been able to bond over the dogs, and the actors cheerful and enthusiastic nature had only been two of many reasons why their interactions had always lacked the distance and awkwardness of strangers getting to know each other.

After today, things could become awkward. The most likely event is that Jared's forgotten about Jensen's nosiness, but there is the possibility that he remembers and that he feels about it the way he did just before. It would really be a shame to lose what they had of a friendship over Jensen's social awkwardness.

Dean runs off to the right and chases a scent he picked up. "Dean!" But the husky is already busy nosing a snow drift, burying his face in the white powdery substance. Jensen knows from experience that he won't be able to get the dog to leave it alone. He watches him dig deeper, and after re-checking the scent, going on a digging frenzy.

For full five minutes he's able to watch the display. But then he's had enough. He calls once more for Dean, and then he walks on. Once the dog realizes that Jensen is no longer waiting for him, he'll come after his human. In the end it's the only way to get the husky to give up on his digging obsessions.

His thoughts return to Jared. He can't help it. It's almost as if all his life his brain has been programmed on Jared Padalecki, and ever since high school he's been obsessing about the other in one way or another.

His feet find their way without him having to concentrate on where to go. This leaves him with enough time to go over his past and present interactions with Jared.

Dean yips and shoots past him. The dog makes a sharp turn and comes back to him. And then he swings around again and runs ahead, a black shadow ghosting over the cool whiteness all around them.

When he's climbed the small incline that allows him to look out to the east, Jensen takes a moment to take in the open land. Jared's presence has him remembering his teenage years, when standing in the midst of snow and ice had still been a dream of the future. Now that he is where he wanted to be back then, Jensen is proud to say that he never gave up, and fulfilled his dreams.

After another minute he turns his back to the sight and starts on his way back. A short gust of wind has him shiver and he looks up to check on the sky. There are dark grey clouds darkening it. The already dimming twilight is almost drowned out by the thick cover that keeps the light from the earth. Wind cuts sharply against his face. Snow is blown up and tossed this way and that. Maybe the walk wasn't such a good idea after all.

Worried about the signs of the coming storm, Jensen hurries up his pace. It was stupid to walk out this far with the night falling, and the change in weather is only making it worse. Instead of worrying about what Jared thinks about him, like some stupid teenage girl, he should have paid better attention on his surroundings.

Jensen calls out to Dean, and hopes the dog heard him. It is hard to make anything out in this weather. He can hear someone calling his name, half the sounds drowned out by the wind. It's a good thing that he knows the area around the compound as well as he does otherwise he wouldn't be able to find his way back to the entrance.

His Arctic gear is protection enough against the cold and wet, but it can't help him with the fight against the storm. Jensen presses on against the wind that almost pushes him back. He raises his hand to shield his eyes; his goggles are back in his room. Once more he curses his idiotic behaviour. He swears there and then that he'll never again let anything distract him to such a degree.

When he sidesteps around a boulder, his left foot twists, maybe slipped on an ice plate under the snow, and he goes down. Excruciating pain shoots up from his ankle. He has to bite his tongue to keep from shouting out loud, and his breath stops for a second.

It hurts really bad, but he knows that he can't stay. He has to go on, injury or no injury, and make for the compound. In weather like this, he wouldn't survive on his own.

Taking a deep breath Jensen gets up, favouring his right foot. When he tries to put weight on his left one, he almost goes down again. It's hard but he keeps on walking, very slowly now, but he continues his trek.

He doesn't know how long it takes him, but the pain in his ankle makes it seem like much longer, until he can recognise the area around the compound. Relieved, he directs his steps to the entrance, once more calling out to Dean in the hope that the dog followed him back. There's no way to know for sure, because he can't make out anything around him.

There's a large shape looming in the door. At closer inspection, Jensen recognises Jeff who is holding Dean at his collar, keeping the dog from running out into the storm that is raging now. The weather changed so quickly.

"Jensen!" He can understand him now without problems. Another ten steps, and he's inside again. "What the hell were you doing outside?" The last is shouted at him, and is not a question. "You especially should know better than that."

"I'm sorry, Jeff. It changed from one moment to the next." He knows though that there's no excuse for this irresponsible action. If someone had to be sent after him, he would be at fault for anything that happened to them.

Dean strains against the hold Jeff has on him. The dog's fighting hard to get to Jensen. "When Dean showed up without you I thought something had happened to you."

"I'm really sorry, Jeff." His friend had been terrified. There's nothing that he can do to make up for the trouble and worry he caused, and his ankle is hurting too much to be more coherent.

"What's wrong with your foot?" Only now Jeff notices Jensen's limp. He reaches out and wraps his arms around his shoulder, allowing Jensen to keep from putting too much weight on his injured side. "Are you hurt bad?"

"Twisted my ankle." He grits through his teeth. The walk to the infirmary seems impossible long, and the only thing he wants is to sit down on the floor and rest.

"Come on, we're almost there." Jeff drags him on, Dean keeping close to Dean, whining with worry about his human. "Brock! Get me Jim. Tell him to come to the infirmary."

Brock takes a look at Jensen and Jeff and runs off. Jensen concentrates on making it to their goal, and once they make it trough the door, and he's sat down on a chair, he takes deep breaths. Finally he can stop walking.

It doesn't even take five minutes before the door swings open and Jim and Danneel storm in. She dashes over to Jensen and hugs him tightly. "I hate you!"

"Yeah, I know. I already said it to Jeff and I'll say it again. I'm sorry, and it was very stupid." He hugs his friend back, and tries to send Jim a contrite look over Danneel's shoulder.

Jim just shakes his head and crouches down next to him. He reaches out and starts to undo Jensen's boot. He doesn't get far though before Jensen hisses in pain and flinches away. "Sorry kid, but the boots have to come off."

Jensen nods but reaches down and does it himself. It's one of the most painful things he's ever done. And then, finally the boot is off and the sock follows. "Pants?"

"Just push them up, so that I can take a good look." And with that he starts his examination.

He doesn't move Jensen's ankle, thank god for that, but the touching and prodding aren't that much better. He has Danneel go to the kitchen for the ice pads in the freezer, and then he continues with his work.

"It's not sprained, is it?" The last thing he needs is to be laid up for months.

"Well, the ligament isn't fully torn. There is swelling, but it will be much worse soon." He gets up and looks down at Jensen. "Doesn't mean though that you can't fully tear it if you aren't careful. No dog sledding and hikes in the near future. I want you off your feet the next couple of days. And, we'll need a cast for you, keep the foot immobilised."

"But… ", Jensen wants to protest but he doesn't get far.

"I don't want to hear it. Danneel can help with the dogs, and the treks out to the stations will have to be done on foot." His dark look and Jeff's growl have Jensen stop arguing before he can even start.

Danneel returns and brings two ice packs with her. Behind her Sam and Brock are joining them, worried looks on all their faces. Danneel kneels down and helps Jim wrap Jensen's ankle, carefully avoiding putting the packs against the skin.

"Okay, leave it like that, but be sure to take them off after fifteen minutes, and put them on about the same time later. We don't want you to get cold injuries." He signals Jeff to come over, and together the two of them help Jensen to his room, where he's deposited on his bed. Their trek from the infirmary to Jensen's quarters caused a small commotion, and people are checking what is going on. Jared's door is open and he's standing in the doorway watching their progression.

Jensen doesn't look at him though. He's tired and he hurts. He's feeling guilty about causing his friends and colleagues such trouble, and he's upset because the injury is a serious handicap with a part of his work. Last, but not least, he finds that he's angry with the actor. If the other hadn't reacted the way he did to Jensen's attempt of offering help, he might not have went for the walk after all, and he would not have been distracted, not watching his surrounding.

With him wrapped up in his blankets, his injured foot resting on two pillows, he feels like an invalid. Brock and Jim have left already and Jeff and Sam are heading out now. Only Danneel stays with him, climbing on the bed and curling up next to him. She and Dean are like ticks clinging to him on each side.

"I'm alright, Dani." He only gets an upset glare as an answer. His friend won't let him make light of the situation. More often than not Jensen has kept injuries and pains to himself, not wanting her or anyone else to make too much of a fuss about it. It's the type of attention he can do without.

"Shut up, asshole." She elbows him, but it's only lightly, like she's careful not to hurt him. That's exactly what he doesn't like. He wants her to be herself, and not to pay attention to everything she does. He's not made of glass.

"I know you love me. Don't try to hide it." There's laughter in his voice. The banter makes him feel somewhat better.

"Dream on." Danneel huffs out. But there's fondness in it. She has been with Jensen through everything since the two of them arrived here, two years ago. Even though she had never been living in the Polar Region before, nor been on any longer excursions, her qualifications on the scientific side had been more than enough, to ensure her a place on the project.

The first time she had met Jensen, he had been arriving at the site, dogs in tow. He can still remember the look on her face when seven dogs stampeded towards her, all of them excited about arriving at their new home. It hadn't really helped that Danneel is a cat person to begin with.

Seeing her today, working with and caring for the dogs, it's hard to believe that she hasn't always been doing it. Over time her regard and then her love for the huskies had grown – like fungus she described it once – and now she's Jensen's right hand where the dog handling and care is concerned.

"I'm sorry for scaring you like that." She tenses at his words. "It was stupid of me to go out in the first place. I know I said it already, but I'll say it again."

"When Brock stormed into the lab and babbled on about you being injured and unable to walk, I was so scared." Her voice is small and wobbly with emotions. "I didn't even know that you were outside. What if you hadn't made it on your own? There's no way we could have found you. You could have died."

"Sorry." He sneaks his arms under her shoulders and around them, and hugs her as hard as he can.

"What were you thinking?" That's the question that needs answering. The only answer he has is '_nothing_'. A big, fat pile of it, too.

"I don't know. I thought that it would do me and Dean good to get some exercise." At the mention of his name the dog barks. "But then he was tired, and he and Jared didn't want to go, and when I asked Jared if he was alright he got angry with me, and I wanted to get some fresh air, and… I guess I was not thinking right."

"I know that you weren't thinking right. At least not with your upstairs brain." Even though Danneel tries to scold him, there's laughter in her voice.

"Hey! I wasn't thinking with any other brain than the one upstairs!"

"Sure." She shoves against his shoulder and settles down again. "Just, think before you do something stupid like that again."

"Promise." Jensen knows that this was the one and only time he lets another person's comment and mood bend him out of shape like this. No matter who it is and what it's about.

They stay resting like this for some time, with Dean huffing against his ribs, and Danneel quiet and relaxed, leaning against his other side. When the adrenalin wears off, and the warmth from the blankets has seeped into his body, making him heavy, he can feel how his lids droop closed.

He wants to stay awake some more, but in the end it's a losing game. It doesn't take more than five minutes before he drifts off, getting the much needed rest.


	5. Chapter 5

Danneel left some time during the night, so when Jensen wakes up the next morning, there's a Danneel shaped mould next to him, but the spot is cold, which means that she's been gone for some time.

Dean's still sprawled over him, and the heat the husky emits, has Jensen sweating. It's worse than a sauna. His pitiful attempts of untangling himself and shed some layers are seriously hindered by a more than unresponsive canine. All the moving and wriggling results only in two things. One he jars his injured foot, which has him curse loudly, in a variety of languages, and two Dean huffs put upon and promptly smothers Jensen some more.

His profanities were apparently heard from people passing by, because not a minute after his display of colourful language, the door opens and Jared peers inside. His hair is more or less kempt, which means that it has to be long past Jensen's usual time to get up.

"Hi," The greeting is offered tentatively, and at once Jensen's reminded of their last conversation, if it even ranks as one, and its consequences. When he doesn't respond in any way, Jared seems to take it as a welcoming signal, because suddenly Jensen finds himself alone with him. Except for Dean of course.

"How are you today?" Again the cautious tone. It grates on Jensen's nerves. Yesterday, when he tried to be empathic, his kindness had been rudely refused, and now Jared behaves like it had been Jensen who told him off.

"Fine." Which is a fat lie, but he wants to get this over with. He wants the other to return to whatever he's supposed to do right now, snow shoe, or learn about Polar history, or survival training, or whatever else is on the curriculum.

"Okay." It should be done now, but Jared lingers, he takes a step to the chair at the desk, stops himself, looks at Jensen – never meeting his eyes though, and takes a step back again. It's just ridiculous.

"What do you want, Jared?" His question comes out harsher than he actually intended.

"I wanted to apologize. For my behaviour yesterday. I was kind of short with you." This time he does sit down on the chair. "I was in a foul mood and I took it out on you. Sorry."

"Okay."

"We alright again?" Jared raises eyes from the perusal of his lap, and looks him in the face for the first time since he showed up in Jensen's room.

"Sure." He finds that he actually does forgive the other. True, he's still a bit pissy with the outcome of everything, but in the end it was Jensen's choice to go out, and it was Jensen's ignorance that led to the injury. Most of all, he's a guy, and bitching about how unfairly he had been treated by Jared is something a girl would do, not him. "So, you gonna tell me why you acted like a moron yesterday?" Okay, so maybe he can bitch some more, just a little bit.

"It was nothing." Jared is once more back to staring at his lap, his hands rubbing over his knees. "Just something Chad said."

"Okay." He doesn't push for more. If Jared wants to actually talk about it this time, he will.

"You know I broke up with my girlfriend a couple of months ago, and he said something about the relationship we had." His eyes are focused on Dean now who climbs the bed and once more drapes himself over Jensen. "Something stupid."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Both, you and your girlfriend breaking up, and Chad being such a douchebag about it." And he means it. Jared is a nice guy, and what he remembers seeing of him and Sandra McCoy together at the class reunion, had shown him that he cares a lot about the actress. "I thought that the two of you looked good together."

"You saw us in the news?" This seems to distress Jared.

"No, I saw you and her at the class reunion two years ago. You seemed to have a good thing going on. I'm sorry that it wasn't meant to last." Jensen can see how the news about how he knows about Jared and Sandy, lifts a weight from Jared's shoulders.

"Thanks." He relaxes and promptly slouches on the chair. "I don't remember seeing you at the class reunion."

"I would be surprised if you did. Me and Chris kept mostly in the back. More watching than seeing." Jensen smiles warmly at him. "I never was one for the limelight, not at high school and not now."

"I've got no problem with that." A cheeky grin accompanies the statement.

"No shit, Mr. Hollywood." Now that the banter is back, Jensen feels much calmer. The tension between them had been weighing much more on him than he had been willing to admit, even to himself.

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

Jared grins harder, dimples and all. "So, how come I never saw you at the reunion and I can't remember you from high school?"

"Don't feel bad about that. No-one from high school will remember me. It was my weirdo mutant teenage ability. I was invisible." He smiles at that. Back then he couldn't make fun of the situation. He hadn't been upset about it, not much at least, but he had always been resentful about being left out of so many things.

"What do you mean invisible?" Jared frowns confused. Someone like CW-high-star-quarter-back-Hollywood-movie-star can't understand a concept that alien to him.

"Invisible means invisible. People just never saw me. Never even noticed I was there." Talking about it brings back a lot of memories. "It had been like that for a very long time. Until I started college."

"That sucks." And he means it. Jared looks at him now, as if Jensen was some poor abused kid, who suffered the worst fate in the world. Usually Jensen hates pity, but somehow Jared's version of it, makes him laugh.

"Naw, it was okay, sometimes even great." He winks at him conspiratorially. "Just imagine, never getting chewed out by Mr. Ellis, or tortured in front of everyone by Mrs. Humphris."

"I can see how your ability came in handy at times like that. Still, must have been boring to be alone all the time."

"Well, I wasn't exactly alone. I had, and still have, Chris. He's my oldest pal." Thinking about his friend has him smile. "We had lots of fun."

"Is he the Chris you hid with at the reunion?" It's funny to have Jared Padalecki this interested in the personal life of one Jensen Ackles.

"Yeah, he was the one who told me about it in the first place. Forced me to go there even after spending the night before at his concert. Chris was even more hung over than I was." Dean noses at his hand, signalling his wish to be petted. Jensen scratches him behind the ears, and cards through the husky's thick fur.

"Chris sings?" This seems to raise Jared's spirit. He attentively watches Jensen and Dean.

"Yeah, him and his friend Steve. Their band's called Kane. They play mostly Country and Country Rock." He grins. "You know, mopey guys singing about heart break and lost money."

"I know them. I went to one of their shows in LA: That was a while back though, five years or so." The fact that Jared knows Chris' band, and has been to one of their concerts throws him. Somehow he never considered that their worlds overlapped in the past, before Jared came out here to Alaska. "I liked their music, heart break and all."

"Well, being a Texas boy, it's written into your DNA that you have to like Country. Can't really help it." They chuckle at that. There are far too many jokes about Texas and cowboys, to not find it funny.

"So, you said you stopped being invisible at college. How did that happen?" And with that they are back at the topic.

"I don't even know. It just happened. One moment I was this loner, who only had one friend, who I didn't talk to at that time, and the next moment I have six friends with whom I went through thick and thin." He realizes he hasn't talked to Gabe or Chad in a long time, and even though he exchanges e-mails with Mike from time to time, he hasn't seen him for a couple of years.

"You still friends with them?"

"Yeah, but I haven't seen them for quite some time now. Gabe works with some research institute out in Québec. He got his degree in bioengineering. Chad stayed at UA and teaches and researches in the field of Mechatronic." The last picture he saw of his friend, he had still been sporting the mullet. "Mike is living with Tom in San Francisco now, and he's employed with some governmental department in the area of resource management. Tom is working at another department. Kristen married some Mountie and has two kids, and Sophia is an editor with a small newspaper at her home town."

"They sound like nice people." Yes, they are. They are the best of people, and Jensen wouldn't want to have missed out on getting to share his life with them.

"We were unstoppable. The girls were even worse than us guys. Of course they were never blamed. Surprisingly enough, Mike was the one who always got into trouble for the things we did." Jensen laughs at the memories of their antics. More than once their friend had had to pay for something someone else had done. Being a true friend though, he had never told on any of them.

"That's something I regret not having done, going to college. Don't take me wrong, I love what I do, and I enjoyed starting out as an actor, but there are just so many stories in my family about my sister, or my brother going to college, and all the fun they had." There's no regret in Jared's voice though. It strikes Jensen has odd that he got to experience something Jared wanted to do, but never got around to.

"So, why didn't you go to college? I mean, did you go off to tinsel town right out of high school?" This is something Jensen has been interested in for some time now. With him never reading gossip rags, neither in printed form, nor in the online version, he has no knowledge about Jared's start as an actor.

"I knew already in high school that I wanted to go into acting, not the school play acting, but TV and movies. So, I had professional photos taken and wrote a resume, and sent them off to every casting agency I could find. My parents weren't too happy about my choice of profession. I mean, they supported me and all, but my dad wanted me to keep on playing football, and my mum always talked about becoming a lawyer or a doctor." Jared grins at him conspiratorial. "It was my luck that I got picked up by an agency rather quickly. They phoned me and told me that they received scripts for a TV show, and that there's a character in it that would fit me. It was my first role, Dean Forester."

When Jensen does not react to the name, Jared laughs amused. "You have no idea what TV show I'm talking about."

"No, sorry. Was it very popular?" At this Jared cracks up and wipes tears from his eyes.

"You could say so." Slowly he calms down. "Are you telling me you've never heard of Gilmore Girls?"

"No. I guess wasn't very attentive where TV shows are concerned. I do remember my sister talking about a show called Gilmore Girls though." Jensen looks contrite. He's not sure if it's rude that he doesn't know something that apparently was of such importance in Jared's life.

"Actually I think it's awesome that you don't know all that media and publicity crap that goes along with being famous. There have been so many stupid stories printed and reported about my life and career, that sometimes I hate meeting new people. I always wonder what they read and heard about me." Jensen can understand how that might be awkward, and more than a little annoying. Thankfully this is something that he never had to experience, and very likely will never have to face in the future.

"What happened after Gilmore Girls?" Dean rolls on his back and presents his stomach to Jensen. It's his unmistakeable signal for '_pay more attention to me and rub my stomach_. Jensen obediently follows suit.

"After Gilmore Girls, I auditioned for a couple of movies. I did a Horror flick, a romantic comedy, and two action flicks before I got the lead in _'Pussy/Cat'_, the Quentin Tarantino movie. It was a huge success, as was to be expected with Tarantino, and suddenly I got offers left and right. I made some right choices, worked with Spielberg, Scorcese, and starred in an independent production by Clint Eastwood." The way Jared talks about people who are that famous, the same way Jensen talks about his research colleagues, is a little bizarre. No-one Jensen knows should be able to talk like that.

"So, how did you end up willingly being shipped out to Alaska?" His question has Jared smile amused.

"Well, I was sent this script about a historic drama about the early Polar expeditions. My character is one of the guys who spends all his life trying to discover places where no-one else has been. In the end he doesn't survive one of the expeditions, though." Jensen can see the appeal of such a movie. He might even be interested in going to the theatres and watch it.

"Dude, you told me how the story ends!" His mock outrage earns him a raised eyebrow and a snort.

"After reading a couple of biographies of these guys, I would have been surprised if it had ended any other way." There's some truth in that.

"D'you mind my asking why you and Sandy broke up?" He's not sure if Jared is willing to talk about it, especially since Chad talked trash about it the day before, but he can't help but want to know. It's Jared and Alexis all over again.

Something passes behind Jared's eyes and for a moment it seems like he won't answer. But then he does. "It's nothing dramatic, really. We were together for a couple of years, had a good time, and then everyone started to write in the papers how something had to be wrong with our relationship. What with our being a couple for so long and me not proposing." He grimaces at the last words. Not a happy memory it seems. "We, no, I should rather say, I, felt put on the spot. I started wondering if they were right, and then I decided put an end to all those rumours. We were in Cannes and on the way back to the States we stayed in Paris for the weekend. I had it all planned, proposed to her on the Eiffel Tower."

"And she said 'no'?" He feels bad for Jared.

"No, worse. She said yes." Jensen doesn't know how to respond to that.

"I take it; it was not what you wanted."

"I thought it was, at that time. But, then we returned home and I read about our romantic trip to the city of love. I was standing in my kitchen, newspaper in hand, and asked myself what I was doing. I felt like I had trapped myself in something I wouldn't be able to get out of, and that made me realise that the marriage was a bad idea. I mean, who thinks about possibilities of escape when they are thinking about the person they want to spend their life with." Jared rubs over his face as if he's trying to erase an unpleasant or disturbing thought. "Well, it went downhill from there on. We still enjoyed our time together but I was feeling more caged in. In the end it was Sandy who said that she thought it would be better to call it quits. At that time I felt so relieved."

"And now?" Jensen can see that it the whole affair was much harder for Jared than he lets on. "D'you still feel relieved?"

"I don't know how I feel about it. I still like Sandy and we stayed friends despite the whole mess the press made out of the whole affair. She's really something else, but maybe she just wasn't the right one for me." He sighs heavily. "My parents were disappointed. My mother had already started planning the wedding, and I felt, and still feel, like I let everyone down."

Jensen wants to say something to let Jared know that he thinks it was a good idea to stop the engagement and everything before they were married and found themselves wanting to get out. But somehow he's sure that Jared doesn't want him to say anything.

"And Chad, he just can't stop talking bullshit about Sandy. I know that his two marriages and the divorces were crap, and that he's had some crappy experiences, but I refuse to think badly about Sandy just so he can feel better. She didn't do anything wrong, in fact she helped me right a wrong that was my fault to begin with." At that he laughs self-depreciatingly.

"Maybe he can't help but see himself in you. He just wants to help." Jensen never though he would defend the actions of one Chad Michael Murray. The world is a strange place sometimes.

"Yeah, I know. But, still, I don't want to listen to him going on and on about 'cold-hearted bitches'. And yesterday he wouldn't stop, not even after I called him on it more than once." Jared looks him in the eyes. "And I'm really sorry about being an ass when you showed up."

"Hey, it's long forgotten." And after listening to Jared talk about Sandy and Chad, and seeing how much he still hurts – no matter if he says otherwise – Jensen finds that Jared wasn't the only one over-reacting yesterday. Jensen threw his own internal hissy fit, and he doesn't have the excuse Jared has. Except maybe some teenage emo crush on the actor.

Jared smiles gratefully at him. There is exhaustion in his posture and also in his mimicry, but there's also happiness lurking in the corner of his eyes.

It fills him with warmth to see that the other confided in him about such private and personal things. It gives him the illusion of taking a special place in Jared's life. Even if it isn't so.

They grin at each other and then Jensen asks about the dogs, which has Jared start his tale about this morning and how him and Danneel took care of the huskies on their own. The sadness disappears behind the sunny nature that usually is the only face a person gets to see with Jared.


	6. Chapter 6

The last week Jensen spent mostly in his room and his office. After his two-day bed rest, Jim had handed him a pair of crutches and told him to go wild. Ever since he's been haunting the compound, bored out of his scull.

He misses the time he spent with the dogs, but it's impossible for to go out, he wouldn't make it on his own. He and Jared have a deal which enables him to at least see the huskies once a day. Every morning, while Jared takes Dean for a walk, he lets the dogs lose, and Jensen who's sitting next to the entrance, can play with and pet the team.

It's difficult to work in the lab, because his hobbling around with the crutches makes it hard to manoeuvre around. In the end he mostly spends his time doing office work, he's taken over some administrative stuff Jeff usually does, and teaching more classes than intended.

Today is the last day before the actors, and with them Jared, are heading back to LA. Most of them are eager to get back to their high society life. Chad has been talking non-stop about some bar he wants to go to, and even Jared has been all excited about returning somewhere without tons of snow. Once they are back home, the shooting of the movie will start.

Jensen has realised that he will miss hanging out with his new friend. Ever since their talk about what happened with Sandy, he had felt as if they had been better friends, for the lack of a better word. The teasing and the banter has been there just like it was before, but there has been the added layer of serious conversation as well.

The actors are on their last snow shoe trek, they took the dogs with them, and Dean insisted on going with Jared and the other huskies. So, Jensen finds himself alone and bored. He's been entering data the last two hours, but after the last week, where practically all he did was entering data into sheets, and organising them, he just wants to stick a fork into his eyes. Really, he's slowly but surely going insane here.

After he entered the wrong numbers in the wrong cell the sixth time in a row, he minimizes the window, and opens the task menu, looking through the list, he picks '_Extras_' and clicks on '_Games_'. A good old game of Solitaire should take care of the state of mind he's currently in. He wins the first game, loses the next two and is well in winning this one, when Danneel shows up.

"I see that you are very busy right now." She teases. Her cheeks are flushed, most probably she was outside, and she's smiling happily.

"Never too busy for you." He grins cheekily at her. "What brings you to my humble office?"

"I thought I might keep you some company. Alona and Sam are having a 'friendly' discussion in the lab about the proper storage of the samples, and I really don't to be around when the phials start flying. You starting to get cabin fever yet?"

"Like you won't believe. If I have to fill out another datasheet, I'll flip out and attack someone, bludgeoning them to death with my crutches." The sad thing is that he means it.

"That I want to see, you toppling over, 'cause honestly without them you aren't much of a threat." She winks at him and slinks into the room, leaning against his desk. "So, what are we gonna do?"

"How about we go and bother Jim, he's on kitchen duty today." There's nothing more entertaining than Jim cooking. Most of all, because Brock is on kitchen duty as well. Brock's a menace.

"You bet." She hands him his crutches and off they go. More like crawl though, because even though Jensen got the hang of walking with his aides, after a day or two, but he's still walking at a pace that makes a snail look like the roadrunner.

As they pass the entrance to the lab they can hear shouting inside, and something that suspiciously sound like glass breaking. "There go the phials." Jensen agrees with her. And it's going to be him who's filling out the request forms for new ones. Well, at least it's something to do besides data entry.

They try their best to make no sound, because neither of them wants to be involved in the quarrel. Nothing good ever comes out of it.

Luck is with them and they make to the kitchen without being made. Danneel holds the door open and in they go. It takes some shuffling but he's finally inside, Danneel following right behind him.

Jim is nowhere to be seen, but Brock is standing at the cutting board and dicing vegetables. His back is turned to them, and he squeaks surprised as Danneel sneaks up to him and snips is ear. Fortunately he isn't holding the knife right now, or else he might have chopped off a finger.

Jensen laughs out loud.

"Assholes, both of you!" Brock turns around and shoves her.

"Aw, Brock, the rock in my life, don't say things like that. You're breaking my heart." Danneel bats her eyes at him and clings to is side.

Jensen makes his way over to the chair in the corner and plops down on it. If he keeps standing he'll only be in their way. Settled down he watches his friends goof around. They are flinging vegetables at each other, chasing around the kitchen. At times like this it becomes obvious how young Brock really is.

Being Jeff's adoptive son, he went everywhere his father does. Brock refuses to stay in one place, go to school, and visit during the holidays. He's been all over Alaska so far, and with Jeff moving around constantly, in the past even to military stations all over the world, Brock can look back on an education, that is in some areas rather spotty, but that enables him to be of great help at the compound and with the research.

In their chase around the kitchen, they don't notice Jim entering, and Danneel careens into him at full speed, almost knocking him over. "What the hell is going on in here?"

Jensen laughs at the contrite look on the faces of his friends. They are flushed with the exercise, and even their mortification about the accident can't hide the happiness and the excitement. It's not too often that they get to let go and just have fun after all.

"Sorry, Jim." Danneel tries using her charm on him as well, but Jim just raises his eyebrow and pins the two rowdies in place with a strict look.

"Since the two bozos of you are so full of energy, you can direct your excess energy on something productive for a change. Brock, finish cutting the vegetables for the soup, and Danneel, you can clean the cantina. Since it's the last evening with our guests, we'll treat them to a little farewell party." Jensen can't help chuckle at the reprimands his friends get. "And you, chuckles, you can help as well."

"Hey, I didn't bowl you over." He tries to sway Jim by using his puppy eyes. Working with dogs he's learned that there's nothing more effective, than the look a dog gives you when he wants you to do something. Unfortunately, Jim is apparently the one person it does not work on.

"Look at me all you want, I don't care. Get up, and go to the cantina, I'll bring you the potatoes. You have the honourable job of cutting and seasoning them for wedges." And with that Jensen's ushered out of the kitchen. He hobbles to the cantina, Danneel following behind him.

There are still some dishes, clean, from breakfast and first of all she collects them and puts them away. Jensen sits down at a table and waits for Jim to bring the potatoes. Usually he hates kitchen duty, and most of all he hates cutting and preparing vegetables. Grilling burgers, or broiling a steak, that's not a problem, but peeling, and cutting, dicing, carve stupid sculptures out of vegetables, that's something he really hates. After his mind numbing week though, he even welcomes the task that he's been given.

Jim and Danneel join him at the table. Danneel's carrying a tray with cutlery and paper napkins, Jim carries a bucket of potatoes and two huge bowls.

"I washed the potatoes already, so just cut them. Fill up those two bowls." Jim sets everything down and leaves Jensen to his work.

There's the clatter of plates and cutlery, and the clinking of glasses. He ignores it and starts on the potatoes. It's actually calming to do this repetitive menial task. Like slipping into a zone out. One after another the tubers wander from the bucket to the bowls. And once the second is full, Jensen sets the knife aside.

He noticed Danneel moving around, covering the tables with actual table cloths, folding napkins, and even decorating the buffet. Looking up he can see that she's transformed the whole room. It looks like the setting for a gala banquet and not like their humble cantina.

There are pictures on the walls, blown up photos of the actors in their classes. There's Hayden working in the lab, assisting Sam. Another picture shows Adrian and Jim as they inspect a gauging station together with Jeff. There's one of Chad and Brock, who snow shoe towards the compound. On the wall right next to him, there's photo of Jensen and Jared. They are playing with the dogs, Jared wrestling with Dean, and Jensen standing aside and laughing.

The decorations are nothing special, but Danneel had used what little resources she had, and it gives the room a welcoming and comfortable aura. When she sees him looking around, she takes the tray in front of her and carries it over.

"Since you seem to be finished, I could use your help." The cutlery and the glasses are on the tray, which is put right in front of him. "I'll get the potatoes to Jim. You can polish the glasses, the knives and spoons and forks. Make them look nice and shiny."

"Dani." His protesting falls on deaf ears though. She picks up the two bowls of wedges and dashes off. Jensen's well aware of the unfairness of her action; because there's no way he can run after her and tell her that he wants to do something else. Handicapped he has to stay and polish.

It takes a couple of tries before he's found the right technique to polish the cutlery without leaving fingerprints all over it. He remembers his mother talking about warm vinegar water, but here a cloth will have to make do. By the time he's polishing the glasses, he's brought his technique to perfection.

Danneel comes and goes, sets plates, knifes and forks, and positions glasses. In between this, she's carried the bucket with the rest of the potatoes back to the kitchen, cleaned and decorated Jensen table, and brought him blank sheets of paper and a pen.

"Once you're done with the polishing, please be so kind and write a couple of menu cards for today. Here's a list of what we'll have." A handwritten paper is placed on top of the blank pages. "We'll need two cards per table."

And off she's again. Almost like an apparition.

Two more glasses and he's done. The cloth goes on the chair beside him, the glasses are put out of reach and he takes the list, the pen and the blank sheets of paper. Carefully he writes out the food in his best handwriting. Copying item per item, making sure he forgot nothing, and he doesn't smudge the ink.

After he's finished writing the first card, Jensen takes a look at the sheet. Spontaneously he decides to draw a small sketch of a husky on it for decoration. Then he repeats this, until he's made menus for all tables and two more to put on the buffet as well.

Danneel takes the finished cards, and says something about laminating them. She leaves him, and Jensen thinks about asking Jim for some more work, when the door to the cantina opens and an exhausted but happy Jared peers inside.

"Hey! You're not supposed to see this until later!" Playful indignation in his tone.

"Dude, this looks awesome!" Jared stomps inside, leaving snow on the floor which will melt into unseemly puddles soon enough. He turns round and round, taking everything in, and when he sees the photo if him and Jensen, he smiles brightly. "That picture is amazing. I love it."

"Yeah, Danneel took it and Jim helped her with the developing." The picture is awesome. Jensen asked her for a copy, and his friend promised to make one tomorrow.

"D'you think I can have that one?" Suddenly Jensen is awarded with the very puppy look he tried on Jim earlier. Unlike him, Jensen can't fight it.

"I'm sure that every one of you will get to take theirs with them." It was kind of a farewell and good luck gift. Jensen likes the idea of it, and even if they never look at it again, he wants to believe that Jared will hang his photo at his home.

"Awesome." There's only the wagging tail missing to make Jared's puppy impersonation complete. The image has Jensen grin content, and he gathers his crutches to get up.

When Jared sees him making to stand up, he walk over, ready to help. "Dude, I'll help you."

"Don't worry, I might look like I'm totally uncoordinated with these things, but I can do that without injuring me, or anyone else." He manoeuvres around a bit, and then he's standing. "See?"

"Your incredible skills are amazing. You ought to go to _Cirque du Soleil_." Jared teases.

"Shut up bitch." He tries to dash off in a huff, but only manages to hobble away from Jared at a slow pace.

"Jerk." The respond is chortled out. "You look really pitiful, you know?" More laughter follows.

"Asshole, making fun of the invalid. I'll sue you." Jensen arrives at the door, and has to admit defeat. It opens to the inside, and with him being such a spazz with the crutches he'll not be able to open it on his own.

"Sure." Jared just holds the door open and lets Jensen pass through.

"My very own hero." Jensen says in a breathy and high voice. He bats his eyes at Jared for more effect.

This has Jared puff out his jest, and giving Jensen a bow. "Milady."

"I hate you." His grumbled comment only results in Jared breaking out in laughter. "I'm not a woman."

"You sure about that?" The teasing question has Jensen scowl some more.

"You're lucky I'm handicapped right now." But his threat is said with too much amusement to be intimidating.

"I'm quaking with fear." The gigantic legs look like their only shuffling around, as he matches Jensen's pace. "Please, don't hurt me."

Jensen huffs and turns around the corner to his quarter. There is a happy yip, and Dean bounds towards him. Only seconds before impact, the husky stops and twists himself around his owner. "Missed me, you turncoat?"

"Dude, he was constantly searching for you, and when he couldn't find you, he'd start whining. It was very pitiful." The dog gives Jared a look that seems to accuse the human of lying.

"He's just making that up, right?" Jensen scratches Dean behind the ears. "A macho dog like you."

The three of them make it to Jensen's door and Jared lets them inside. While Jensen sits down on the chair, both, Dean and Jared, pile onto his bed. The dog huffs, and Jared sighs, and soon they are sprawled all over the surface, making it hard to distinguish where the dog ends and the human starts.

"Gonna miss your snow shoe treks?" This warrants only a snort. Jared is always wiped out after having spent a couple of hours walking trough the snow. Taking care of the dogs at the same time, took everything out of him.

Jensen watches the two on his bed for some time. After a couple of minutes there's the sound of soft snoring, and he's not sure if it's Dean or Jared who's sleeping. He gets up, and goes to the bathroom. There's a stool right next to the shower. Leaning against the wall he wedges it into the cubicle, and then he disrobes and climbs into the shower as well.

The first time he took a shower like this he almost fell on his face, getting out of the stall, but now he's to get in and out without any help from someone else.

When the hot water sluices down his body he closes his eyes, and lets the spray carry away the day's sweat and dirt. He makes sure to get everything done in five minutes. Then he climbs out of the shower, and gets the stool, putting it next to the cubicle. He sits down on it and starts with towelling himself dry.

Things like this take longer now than they used to, but only for a couple of minutes. As soon as he's finished, he grabs the sweats and the shirt hanging next to the door, and pulls them on. Now he's good and ready to go.

In the bedroom there are two snores now, and Jensen grins amused at the free concerto he's getting. Careful not to disturb them, he returns to his chair, and sits down at the desk. He reaches for the book he's currently reading and opens it at the page he stopped. After another look at the heap on his bed, he turns away from the display and continues to read the thriller Jared had given him two days ago, when Jensen had complained about boredom.

He's quickly immersed in the world of forensic anthropology and serial killers. Travelling from snow covered Alaska to the British Norfolk Village.


	7. Chapter 7

The farewell party was a full success, and even Chad who was complaining about almost everything, had enjoyed hanging out with the scientists that had been torturing them the past four weeks. Although the reason for his happiness could just as well have been the anticipation of leaving Alaska behind.

Jim, Brock, Danneel, and Sam – who had joined the kitchen team after Jensen had abandoned his post – had prepared a buffet of the likes that had been unseen in the cantina until then. The decorations caused a lot of laughing and pleasant conversations, and each of the actors had been excited about the poster photos of them.

There had been some cheesy speeches last night, mostly fuelled by Sam's self made liquor, and by the end of the party, Hayden had told everyone at least once that she loved them, but she loved Jeff even more.

Jared had spent most of the time with Jensen, talking excitedly about the upcoming shoot, his dogs at home, sunshine, and fast food. Shortly after midnight, and after the most embarrassing speeches were over, he had issued an open invitation to his home in LA.

Throughout the party Jensen had tried to keep from thinking about what would happen once their celebrating was over. Late at night, when he went to bed, he couldn't help himself though, and his thoughts started turning round and round.

The real dilemma is that Jared had turned out to be an even greater person than he had expected him to be. During school his crush on the starquarter back had been focused mostly on the other boys good looks. Since Jensen hadn't been that well versed in human interactions back then, he had based his interest on the obvious, physical appearances.

That didn't mean that he had thought that Jared's manners had been bad. Everyone had always talked about how chivalrous and helpful Jared Padalecki is, and his sunny nature had been as bright as it is today.

During college Jensen hadn't thought much about his teenage infatuation, or his high school time. Studying, hanging out with his friends, and training Dean had been enough of a challenge, and after joining Adventure Ecology and helping David with the organisation of both Polar Expeditions – Antarctica and On Top of the World – time had been an even scarcer resource.

If he's entirely truthful, Jensen hadn't thought about Jared Padalecki before he was confronted with his larger than life movie poster in New York. Seeing the face that had been haunting him throughout his high school days, posted to bill boards, and buses, he had once more to face his interest in Jared Padalecki. The interview had only confirmed what he knew by then already. His infatuation is not gone. It's no longer a crush. It has changed, matured together with Jensen.

After the class reunion, where he had seen Jared in the flesh for the first time since his last day at school, Jensen had been too busy to actively think about the actor, but there had been the occasional dream that featured Jared Padalecki, quite a few of them rather explicit.

When he had come face to face with the person who had starred in the majority of Jensen's wet dreams, he had for the first time in his life the chance to get to know Jared. The person, not the quarterback or the actor. Jared who is grumpy in the morning, but still gets up long before the sun starts to shine, because he wants to help with the dogs. Jared who, when he's exhausted, sprawls over Jensen's bed and fights Dean for more space on the blankets. The very Jared who had told Jensen about his private life, and entrusted him with knowledge that could be uncomfortable (at the very least) for him.

Describing his feelings for him, Jensen can say that Jared is a person who is very important to him. On the same level as Chris is important to him, maybe even of greater importance in some areas. He's not in love with him; he doesn't really know how being in love feels, though. He just knows that every time he can spend time with Jared, he's happy and content, and he misses the other when he isn't around.

So when he wakes up, after more tossing and turning than actual sleeping, only two and a half hours after he went to bed, Jensen's first thoughts go to Jared. He'll have to say goodbye to the friend he found in Jared, and it pains him to think that he'll never get to see him again. Besides class reunions of course.

He rolls onto his stomach, and buries his face in the pillow. Dean is sleeping right next to his bed, snoring lightly. There's the sound of talking, and it seems like someone is sliding something over the floor.

Jensen can make out Hayden and Chad talking, but he doesn't understand what they are saying. Even if he doesn't get what they are saying, he knows what's happening outside his door. Team Hollywood is preparing to leave. The time has come for them to go home-

He buries deeper into his pillow and sheets and tries his best to blend the voices out. It doesn't work though. The more he forces himself not to listen, the better he can understand what they are saying, what they are talking about. They are checking their rooms, making sure that nothing stays behind.

There is a tentative knock at his door, but he ignores it. He knows who it is, but he doesn't want to say goodbye to him. It's stupid and childish. He can't help his reaction though. Another knock, and then the door opens slowly.

"Jensen?" He can hear Jared moving in the door way, his heavy clothes rustling with his movements. "Jensen, are you awake?"

Jensen grumbles. It's low and mostly silenced by the pillow his face is buried in.

But it's enough to let Jared know that he's awake. "Hey. I just want to say goodbye. We're leaving."

He turns his head and squints at the backlit figure of Jared. This time when he talks, he's more successful. "What's the time?"

"Uh, five." The black shape fidgets. "We've got to leave early, because of the storm today."

Jensen nods. If they want to make sure to get out before the blizzard hits, it has to be now. "You say good bye to the dogs?"

"Yeah. Gave Sammy and Cas a last rub and some pets. I'll miss those guys. I mean I can't wait to see Harley and Sadie again, but I'm gonna miss the team." At this Dean wakes up and whines at Jared. "I'm gonna miss you too Dean."

The husky pads over to his human friend, his toenails clicking on the floor. Dean jumps Jared and covers his face with doggy kisses. It's his way of saying, don't leave.

"Yeah, I love you too, fur-face." Jared pets the dog, thumping his sides and hugging him. "Make sure to take good care of your human. I won't be around to help out with that, so the responsibility is all yours."

Dean barks, as if to agree with the instructions he just got.

"Hey! The two of you. I can take care of myself just fine, thank you very much." His protests are met with a disbelieving snort (Jared) and another bark (Dean). "Worrywarts."

After another scratch, Jared has the dog get down, and he comes into the room, hitting the light as he closes the door behind him. At first Jensen has to close his eyes, letting them adapt to the brightness, but when he opens them again, he can see Jared, first blurry and then clear.

"I know I already told you yesterday at the party, but I want to invite you again to visit me. Should you find yourself stateside, maybe even in LA, let me know. You're welcome to hang out at my place anytime." There are heavy bags under his eyes. The party stopped around three and now it's five. Jared most likely slept no longer than one, one and a half hours tonight.

"Thanks. It will be some time before I get to LA though. Texas is more likely." He has a vacation planned in the near future. His own project is almost finished, and he wants to be around for his sister's graduation from college.

"Who knows, maybe we'll be in Texas at the same time. And if not, it's not that far to California if you go by plane." The smile that accompanies the words is encouraging and happy. It gives Jensen a good feeling.

"We'll see." He sits up, and turns to face Jared. "And I wish you good luck with the movie. Not like you'll need it, academy award nominated bigwig that you are."

His teasing has Jared roll his eyes. "Smartass. I'll have you know that I'll base my character partially on you."

"On me?" This is flattering, surprising, and intimidating. "But, I'm not that special."

"The hell you aren't!" The strong reaction comes as a surprise. "The way you are with the dogs, and what you taught us about surviving in the wilderness. Never forget your work with David and your trek across Antarctica. You are awesome; don't make yourself out to be worth any less."

Jensen thinks he can feel his cheeks blush at the compliment. He never expected Jared to have that high an opinion of him. True, they became friends, but he had not thought that the other looks up to him. It's kind of bizarre to discover that the one person you were so hung up on, and still are in a way, admires you.

"Thanks." He smiles weakly, unsure what to do.

"You don't have to thank me. Just visit if you get the chance." There's another knock, and the door opens to reveal a pissy looking Chad.

"Dude, we have to go, or we won't be able to for a day or longer." The blonde nods at Jensen. "See ya around dog man."

During the boot camp, him and Jensen became tentative friends, at first because of Jared, and then because they are strangely fascinated by the other person.

"Take care Blondie." Jensen grins at the actor, who scowls at hearing the nickname.

With a look at Jared he whines, "Are you coming, or what?"

"I'm on my way, douchebag." Jared gets up and smiles a last time at Jensen. "Don't forget to call, and there's something called the internet. I heard rumours about a mysterious mailing system that is available online. Something going by the name of 'E-Mail'."

"Idiot." But his words are spoken fondly. He's really going to miss Jared.

"Yeah, yeah. But admit it; I'm the most loveable idiot you know." He bats his eyes at Jensen, looking ridiculous.

"I don't know about that." Jensen pretends to be thinking about the right answer. "Chad is rather loveable in his own douchy kind of way."

This has Jared laugh heartily and Chad pout (all manly of course).

"I hate the two of you, you're asshats." The blonde pets Dean who comes to say goodbye to the new human as well. "Anyway, get a move on Jared. The others are already waiting."

With another nod at Jensen he leaves them alone again.

"Well, time to get going." Jared fidgets somewhat before he makes for the door. In the doorway he looks back at Jensen. "Promise to keep me up to date?"

"Promise. And now go, before Jeff storms my room to drag you out." He grins at Jared who smiles back and then he's gone. The door closes behind him and the bright and cheery person that has been hanging around him for four weeks now, is no longer there.

Jensen lies back down and stares at the ceiling. He could get up now, but with the actors leaving, and everyone else still sleeping because of the long night, the motivation to do so is rather non-existent. The idea of sleeping some more is very tempting.

Dean whines and Jensen turns to look at him. The dog is sitting in front of the door, staring at it, as if he's waiting for it to open and Jared to walk back in. Jensen knows exactly how the husky feels.

"Hey, Dean, he's gone." His words have the dog's head swivel from the door to Jensen's face and then back again. "Sorry pal. No more Jared."

When Dean keeps on watching the door, Jensen sighs heavily. It's really not fair that the actor came into their life, installed himself in their hearts, and now he's leaving them like this. He watches the dog's vigil for some time, before his lids grow heavy and he starts to drift off.

Before he can fall asleep though the door opens, and Dean jumps up. It isn't Jared though who enters. It's Danneel who wedges inside the room, her cheeks flushed with the cold outside, wearing her Polar gear. "The two of you are pathetic."

She takes off her jacket and outdoor pants, and toes off her boots before she crawls into bed next to Jensen. Her hands are ice cold and so is her face. But she curls around him anyway.

"Uh huh, and you aren't" Jensen pulls his blankets over her and they settle down.

"It's not fair that they grew on us like that." She murmurs against his side. "They weren't supposed to be this likeable."

They stay like this for some time before Dean jumps onto the bed and sprawls over their feet.

"You settle the dogs for the storm?" His question gets no answer besides a sleepy nod. "Thanks, Dani."

Another nod and Jensen reaches for the light switch next to the bed. One flick and it's dark once more. The heat from the dog and Danneel seeps into him, and soon he's dead to the world.


End file.
